Finding the Tooth Box
by prunuspersica
Summary: Pitch needs to find Jack Frost's tooth box in the ones he stole from the Tooth Palace. It takes place during the events of the movie.


Pitch returned from the darkness, startling the toothfairies and making them twitter nervously. He was smiling, and they knew something had gone horribly wrong for the Guardians.

The toothfairies had watched from their cages as the lights on Pitch's globe had flickered on and off throughout the time they were captured. It was Pitch's fault they couldn't do their job and collect the children's teeth. The toothfairies knew that if they didn't collect the teeth, the children would stop believing in the Guardians. For a while, the lights dimmed before coming back on and staying constantly bright. Pitch's nightmare had announced that the Guardians themselves were collecting the teeth. The toothfairies were given hope that the children wouldn't stop believing. Then, Pitch vanished into the shadows, and they knew something big was going to happen.

And now, their worst fears were confirmed: the lights were going out faster than they had before. Pitch sauntered over to his inverted globe and watched as child after child stopped believing. The toothfairies all wondered silently what terrible thing had happened to make the lights go out that fast.

As if reading their thoughts, Pitch turned around and looked at the cages.

"The Sandman is gone, little fairies!" he shouted at them. "There are no more dreams to make children believe in the Guardians! Only nightmares!"

Pitch laughed again and turned back to his globe. He started pacing around it with his hand on his chin, muttering to himself.

The toothfairies didn't know what to do. Their connection with Tooth had been severed when the lights started going out. They had no idea if the Guardians were okay or what they were planning to do next. The toothfairies only knew one thing, and that was that they had to protect the tooth boxes at all costs. They talked quietly amongst themselves about what they thought Pitch might do and how they should react.

The toothfairies of one cage gave a sudden shout. The other toothfairies crowded to the edge of their cages to see what was going on. They had enough time to catch a glimpse of Pitch with his hand around one of the toothfairies before he and the fairy disappeared back into the shadows. The cage rocked back and forth into the air as all of the toothfairies began to panic and look for their missing friend.

Out of the shadows in one of the alcoves behind the globe came Pitch with the toothfairy in his hand. She shivered. The trip through the darkness made her feel every fear she'd ever had: the children no longer believing in the Guardians, losing Tooth, failing to protect the memories that every child needed. For a minute, she felt like giving up and crawling into a dark corner somewhere. Still reeling from the trip through the shadows, she tried to wriggle out from Pitch's hand and fly away.

Pitch didn't allow her the chance to escape. He tightened his grip on her. "Now you, little fairy, are going to help me find something I need. I have all of these tooth boxes for all of these children, but I need to find one in particular."

He brought the toothfairy close to his face. "Where is Jack Frost's tooth box?"

The toothfairy didn't show her surprise at Pitch's demand as she shook her head. Why would Pitch need Jack's tooth box? She could feel it calling out to her now that she was thinking about it, but there was no way she would ever help Pitch. Anything he was trying to do would certainly bring about the downfall of the Guardians if they weren't already defeated beyond repair.

But Pitch wasn't taking no for an answer. He shouted at her, his face contorting into a menacing mask of fear and hate.

"Where is Jack Frost's tooth box? I know you know where it is! Find it for me!"

Again, the toothfairy shook her head. Pitch tightened his grip and yelled in frustration. His patience with the fairy was wearing thin very quickly.

Pitch turned towards the cages. The other toothfairies had all crowded to the edge of the cages to watch what was happening to their friend. He held out his hand, showing them the captive fairy.

"One of you is going to show me where Jack Frost's tooth box is," he said to them. "If no one finds the box for me, I will kill your little friend here."

He kept a tight grip on the toothfairy to make sure she didn't escape. She tried to twist her head around to look at the cages, but could only see them out of the corner of her eye. Nevertheless, she shook her head and protested as loud as she could.

The other fairies didn't move. It was their duty to protect the children's memories inside their teeth, and they knew that if the Guardians failed to protect the children, the memories were the last stand against Pitch and his nightmares. The captive fairy, they knew, would rather die than see Pitch succeed. No one stepped forward to save their friend.

"None of you will save your friend?" he looked around the cages hanging above him. "Alright. You have until the count of three until she dies to help me. One."

The toothfairies didn't move. Pitch gripped the toothfairy even harder. Blackness began to fill in the sides of her vision, but still she kept speaking in the language of the toothfairies, telling them not to help Pitch under any circumstances, even if it meant her own death.

"Two." Pitch was getting angry now. The fairies could feel the hate radiating off of him. The nightmares had come out of the shadows, called by the fear the toothfairies felt for their captured compatriot.

"Three!" The entire space was silent except for the occasional snort from the nightmares.

Pitch started to squeeze the toothfairy. She said nothing this time as her vision darkened almost entirely. She knew her job, and that was to protect the tooth boxes and the memories they held. The toothfairy would die before she let Pitch have Jack Frost's tooth box to use against the Guardians. This comforted her in her final moments.

At the last second, Pitch's hand released the toothfairy enough for her to gasp for air. The fairy's vision swam, but slowly returned to normal. She turned her head to look at Pitch. He seemed to be considering something.

He called over one of his nightmares. It responded to his thoughts and opened its mouth, ready to hold the toothfairy for as long as Pitch needed. The other toothfairies began to chatter anxiously as they realized their friend was still alive, but they knew that Pitch wasn't done yet.

The toothfairy squirmed in Pitch's hand, trying as hard as she could to get free. She did not want to go back into the nightmare. It was terrible inside of them. It felt as though all the light was sucked out of her existence when she was captive, despite the fact that she could see through to the outside. The world of bad dreams warped reality.

She couldn't get free, though, and Pitch stuck her inside the nightmare's mouth. It swallowed her, and she was trapped again.

The toothfairy couldn't see what Pitch was doing. She could barely focus on what was happening while her thoughts were consumed with every dark thought she could think. She was dimly aware of the other fairies protesting as Pitch did whatever it was he was doing. But the darkness started to consume her again, and she sat there, trying to overcome the fear that was rattling her.

She was jerked out of her dark reverie by a hand grabbing her again. It was Pitch, who had reached straight through the body of the nightmare to grab her. She looked up and saw the other fairies watching her with concern. The sight of them filled her with hope and reminded her that she wasn't alone.

Then she turned and saw what Pitch held in his other hand. It was the tooth box of a young girl with blonde hair. The gold shine the boxes all shared with the lights on the globe seemed dull in Pitch's grip. The sight of it filled her with dread.

Pitch brought the toothfairy within a few inches of his face. He looked her in the eye, his head making a shadow that covered her completely.

"I spared your life, little fairy, and I'll give you one last chance to help me." He held up the young girl's tooth box and shook it. The teeth rattled inside it, and the sound of the girl's laughter rang inside the toothfairy's head. She looked directly at face, and in that one glance, she knew before he spoke what Pitch was planning.

"I am going to destroy these boxes one by one until you help me find Jack Frost's tooth box," he said quietly to her. "I will crush the boxes and the teeth within, and I will make sure that your precious children never remember a happy memory again."

The other toothfairies yelled out from their cages, but the single toothfairy stayed silent. She thought about what Tooth would do. Tooth was a Guardian, and the most important thing to them was protecting the children of the world. She would never allow a single child to forget the memories that would give them hope and remind them to wonder and dream.

The toothfairy wasn't a Guardian, but she shared their mission. And while she wasn't a Guardian, she was still a toothfairy, and it was her job to watch over the teeth that she and her companions had so carefully collected. Pitch needed Jack Frost's tooth box for some reason, and he needed them intact. The toothfairy didn't know why, but she knew Pitch wasn't going to destroy Jack's memories yet. They had a little while longer.

The other toothfairies had grown quiet behind her, and while they had protested to what Pitch had said, she knew that they would make the same decision she was going to make. The toothfairy's rose-colored eyes looked directly into Pitch's dark ones and nodded once. Pitch's face curled into a smile.

"Good little fairy," he said. "Now, show me where the box is."

The toothfairy nodded once more. She closed her eyes and reached down inside of her and felt for Jack's tooth box. She heard the boy's familiar laugh inside her head, along with the sound of a girl's voice faintly calling his name over and over. The toothfairy concentrated on the memories. She took a deep breath, knowing that whatever happened after Pitch got a hold of the box was her fault, but she knew that protecting the children was what mattered most. With a gentle surge of magic, she called up the memories on the surface of Jack's box.

The girl's voice from Jack's memory rang out from the depths of the caverns that held the tooth boxes. It was faint, but clear. Pitch turned his head towards the sound and laughed.

"Jack!" The voice was teasing and playful and had the tone of someone who had just been laughing. The sound brought a small amount of warmth that beat back the coldness of the lair. The girl's voice called out again, and again. With each repetition, the laughter left her voice and fear took its place.

Pitch turned his attention back to the toothfairy. "Thank you, my dear. You've done me a great service."

He moved to the nearest cage and opened the door. He set the toothfairy down inside the cage and closed the door. She sat there, huddled against herself. The toothfairy knew that she had made the best decision, but she knew that whatever Pitch had planned would only make more children stop believing. None of the other toothfairies made a move towards her. They all sat there silently, watching Pitch walk off and disappear into the shadows as he looked for the box.

She turned her attention towards the globe and watched as the lights continued to go out. The only sounds were the echoes in the distance of the girl's increasingly worried voice and Pitch's occasional laugh.


End file.
